Creating merchandising associations

A merchandising association associates one catalog entry to another. If you are trying to increase store sales, you might want to create a merchandising association to suggest different, or replacement products that are based on a selected catalog entry.

You can create multiple merchandising associations for one or more catalog entries at once. For example, you can create merchandising associations for a particular product or for many products at once. Merchandising associations support product variants as both source and target. A variant can also add other catalog entries, such as products, to its merchandising associations.

Procedure

  1. Open the Catalogs tool.
  2. Use one of the following ways to create new merchandising associations:
    OptionDescription
    Create a merchandising association by copying an existing merchandising association:
    1. Browse or search for the catalog entry you want to copy.
    2. Click the Merchandising Associations tab.
      Note: If you are using the extended sites model, the first table displays merchandising associations for the catalog entry in the catalog asset store.
    3. Right-click on the merchandising association in the table; then click Copy.
    4. Browse or search for the catalog entry where you want to paste the copied merchandising association.
    5. Click the Merchandising Associations tab.
    6. In the table, right-click on the merchandising association; then click Paste. The merchandising association is copied.
      Note: When you copy a merchandising association, the catalog entry is the only property that is copied. All other properties are not copied over.
    Create new merchandising association for a particular catalog entry
    Note: If you are using the extended sites model, you can create an asset store merchandising association from the extended sites store.
    1. Browse or search for the catalog entry you want to add the merchandising association to.
    2. Click the Merchandising Associations tab.
    3. To add the merchandising association by using the quick find and add area, click the drop-down beside the Find and Add icon to choose to find products, SKUs, bundles, or kits; then type the catalog entry code or name in the quick find and add area, and click Find and Add.
    4. To add the merchandising association by using the utilities view; then click Show Utilities View Show Utilities View The Utilities View displays. Browse or search for the catalog entry; then drag the entry onto the merchandising associations table in the work area.
    Create merchandising associations for one or more catalog entries at once
    1. From the toolbar, click the Add newArrow Create New icon; then select Merchandising Associations.

      Alternately, you can select File > New > Merchandising Associations.

    2. In the Catalog entries table, add one or more catalog entries you want to create merchandising associations for using one of the following methods:
      • Click Show Utilities View Show Utilities View. Browse or search for the catalog entry; then drag one or more catalog entries into the Catalog entries table in the work area.
        Tip: Alternatively, you can use context menu to copy the items that are displayed in the utility pane, and paste the items them into the Catalog entries table in the work area.
      • Click the drop-down beside the Find and Add button to choose to find products, SKUs, bundles, or kits; then type the catalog entry code or name in the quick find and add area, and click Find and Add.
      Note: Each catalog entry that you add to the Catalog entries table is associated to all the catalog entries you add to the Merchandising association table.
    3. Select Remove existing merchandising associations from the Catalog entries.

      All existing merchandising associations that are associated with the catalog entries in the Catalog entries table are removed before the new merchandising associations are created.

    4. In the Merchandising associations (target catalog entries) table, add one or more target catalog entries by using one of the following methods:
      • Click Show Utilities View Show Utilities View. Browse or search for the catalog entry; then drag one or more catalog entries into the Merchandising associations table in the work area.
      • Click the drop-down beside the Find and Add button to choose to find products, SKUs, bundles, or kits; then type the catalog entry code or name in the quick find and add area, and click Find and Add.
  3. Provide any of the following information for the merchandising associations:
    PropertyDescription
    Sequence The order in which the object is displayed. Numbers are displayed in ascending order. The maximum number of decimal places is 5.
    Association The type of merchandising association: accessory, replacement, up-sell, or cross-sell.
    Quantity The number of SKUs within the selected catalog entry.
    Semantic The semantic identifier: comes_with, none, requires, or temp. Any custom merchandising association semantics you created also display. This field is not visible by default.
    Date The date the merchandising association is created. This field is not visible by default.
  4. Click Save; then click Close.